


If the World was Ending

by purplejellosg1



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Romance, Slow Romance, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, samjackshipday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25569304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplejellosg1/pseuds/purplejellosg1
Summary: Sam/Jack, S8. Cassie has a question that gets Sam and Jack thinking. This took on a little life of its own. Originally written for SamJackShipDay but went off track so doesn't fit the prompt it was supposed to. Threads spoilers.
Relationships: Kerry Johnson/Jack O'Neill, Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill, Samantha "Sam" Carter/Pete Shanahan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57





	If the World was Ending

"But if the world was ending  
You'd come over, right?  
You'd come over and you'd stay the night  
Would you love me for the hell of it?  
All our fears would be irrelevant  
If the world was ending  
You'd come over, right?"

"If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, and you couldn't do anything about it, and you can only spend your last night alive with one person, who would it be?" The question was posed by Cassie over the telephone, unknowingly to both her godmother and her godfather in the space of twenty minutes.

Knowing they would both choose her – at least to her face – Cassandra Fraiser channelled her late mother, knowing Janet would approve.

"Not including me," she clarified, "because I'm here and you're there, and travelling would just be a waste of time. Who would you spend your last few hours with?"

When she asked Sam, the Lieutenant Colonel didn't have to hesitate to answer, but found herself biting her lip instead of saying the name of the first person who came to mind out loud. On the telephone, Cassie grinned, sensing the indecision.

"Think about it and let me know at the weekend. You're still picking me up at the airport, right?"

"Of course, Cass. I wouldn't be anywhere else." And with that, the conversation changed to their plans for the weekend. Plans that Cassie was grateful didn't include Sam's finance, who would be working and, she hoped, wouldn't be able to drop by unexpectedly to make nice with his future step-goddaughter.

She didn't have anything against Pete, not really. He was okay, but he wasn't the person she'd imagined Sam settling down with. He wasn't right for her, and although Sam seemed happy enough with him, her smile never seemed to reach her eyes the way it did when she was with…

"Hi, Jack!" Cassie called her godfather as soon as she hung up from her conversation with Sam. She frowned when she heard what she thought was a woman's voice in the background. "Is this a bad time? Are you with someone?"

"Ah, no. No, Cass. It's never a bad time for you." She heard his voice add something else, mumbled due to his hand over the receiver, and the rustle of material as he got up from wherever he was to move around in the house. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine, fine. I was just calling to see how you're doing, and what your plans are for the weekend."

"This weekend?" There was a small pause. "Aren't you visiting Carter?"

Cassie's eyes narrowed, her frown growing deeper. "Yep. I thought maybe we could get everyone together. Have a barbeque or something like we used to."

"That…" He cleared his throat. "That sounds good, Cass. But won't you and Carter be busy shopping for dresses or something?"

Dresses for the wedding. The wedding, Cassie thought worriedly, that seemed to be approaching all too quickly even though Sam hadn't yet mentioned them needing to find their dresses.

"I don't know if Sam's all that keen on the idea. She seemed a bit down about it when I talked to her." It was a tiny bit of a white lie, but what Jack and Sam didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Oh?" And there it was, she thought with a grin. The part curious, part concerned tone Jack used whenever he was trying to hide his interest in matters relating to Samantha Carter.

"Anyway, I have a question for you, and I want you to think about it and then give me the answer at the weekend, okay?" She continued before he could answer, knowing him well enough to be sure he wouldn't deny her request. Her Mom had always sighed that she had both Sam and Jack wrapped around her little finger, and Cassie had always known it. "If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, and you couldn't do anything about it, and you can only spend your last night alive with one person, who would it be? I don't count, because it's against the rules to waste time travelling. It's got to be someone you can get to easily."

"Okay. That's strangely specific, Cassie." Jack's tone was wry, and she could imagine the small half grin on his face. "But I'll think about it and let you know at the weekend."

"At the barbeque," Cassie added.

There was a small pause, then a sigh. "At the barbeque."

Cassie grinned and did a happy dance around her dorm. "See you then, Jack. Love you, bye!"

She hung up and hugged herself; her work was, for the time being, done.

#

Try as she might, Sam couldn't get the conversation she'd had with Cassie out of her mind. She kept playing the question she'd asked, over and over in her mind.

Every time, the answer came up the same.

And every time, the answer wasn't her fiancé.

It was the man sitting to the right of her at the head of the table, doing his best to look focused on the briefing being held by Major Paul Davis and Agent Kerry Johnson about how their roles as liaisons with the Pentagon and CIA would work.

The relationship between the SGC and the Pentagon was nothing new, but the newly formed link between the SGC and the CIA was something that had come as a bit of a surprise to the members of SG-1. General O'Neill didn't seem surprised about it; in fact, he'd seemed quite familiar with Agent Johnson if the reassuring smile he'd shot her before she'd started talking was anything to go by and that… that made it event harder for Sam to concentrate on what was being said.

Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of Jack – the General – moving on. She couldn't blame him for it, not when she wore another man's ring on the dog tags around her neck, but she didn't like the way it made her feel.

Like she'd lost him.

The briefing continued and she did her best to at least look like she was paying attention. She knew she wasn't doing the best job when she glanced up to find Teal'c watching her, an eyebrow arched in question. She gave him a forced smile and looked away, back towards the presentation projected on the screen, and hoped that would be enough.

A few minutes later, she felt a gentle pressure on her hand from her right. Sam was startled but years of expecting the unexpected at the SGC kept her from reacting noticeably. She glanced first at her hand and at the note that had been pushed underneath it, and then up at the man who'd written it.

Jack quirked an eyebrow at her, concern visible in his dark brown eyes.

It was almost her undoing, but she managed to clench her jaw and gave him a small nod before glancing away again. She heard him shift in his seat and knew she hadn't convinced him.

Her heart started to pound again, and she found herself wondering how to get out of the situation she'd gotten herself in.

#

Something was up with Carter, and it was distracting him.

Okay, so he'd been distracted since the phone call from Cass, to the extent where he'd feigned a headache and cancelled his plans with Kerry, which he felt guilty about, but he told himself he'd rearrange their date when he had a better handle on the situation.

Something was up with Carter, and he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind since Cassie had posted that stupid question.

It was stupid, Jack thought dourly. The world had almost ended countless times since he'd re-joined the SGC and he'd never before felt the need to delve into thoughts of who'd he rather spend his last living hours with.

Eight years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated in saying Sara. Now they'd both moved on, and a friendship based on mutual respect of the past had formed tentatively between them.

If Cass hadn't stipulated it had to be one person, he would've chosen his team – had done, on many an occasion. Mostly because they'd been together trying to save the world at the time but even if they hadn't been, he'd have rather been with them all than without them.

And now…

Now, with the choice of only one person, there was only one face that appeared in his mind, and it wasn't the woman he had, until twenty-four hours ago, been contemplating letting into his life.

Preoccupied with his thoughts, he hadn't noticed Sam's uncharacteristic distractedness at first. He looked up when Daniel cleared his throat, followed the look Daniel shot to Teal'c, and then the look Teal'c gave Carter. From then on, he studied her himself and noticed that there was definitely something not quite right about his former Second.

He hastily scribbled a note and passed it to her, feeling a little like a naughty schoolboy when he realised the gesture hadn't gone unnoticed by at least one of the presenters of the briefing, but he was soon distracted again by Sam's response, seeing the flash of something in those blue eyes of hers before she looked away again.

Something was definitely up with Carter, and he was determined to find out what.

#

As the briefing drew to a close, Sam started to get to her feet. If she could start making her way out of the room before the others, she might be able to escape a grilling from her teammates, and General O'Neill would be too distracted by making nice with their guests to notice…

"Carter, a word."

Damn it.

He spoke before she'd made it out of her chair fully, motioning to his office with a jerk of his head. As if having known what Jack was going to do, making nice to Agent Johnson and Major Davis fell to Daniel and Walter, who thanked them for their time and asked polite questions respectively.

Stifling a sigh, and telling herself it wasn't a smug expression she saw on Teal'c face, Sam got to her feet and followed Jack towards his office. She fought the urge to stand at attention when he closed the door behind them and took up a position behind his desk.

Neither of them sat down, and Sam was conscious of the star map leading into the briefing room leaving its occupants with a clear view of the General's office.

"What's up, Carter?"

"Sir?" She decided to play dumb, having learned the technique from him. "You asked to see me."

"Because there's something not right with you, so out with it." He motioned with his hand for her to speak, but Sam decided not to.

Silence, she knew, was something he couldn't stand.

What she hadn't considered, though, was that Jack could stand a lot of things where she was concerned. And if he had to wait it out, watching her expectantly until she broke, he would.

An uncomfortable couple of minutes passed, neither willing to break first. Eventually, thinking about the experiments in her lab she really needed to get back if for no other reason than to distract herself from her thoughts, Sam sighed. Her shoulders slumped. "I'm fine, Sir. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Planning a wedding will do that." The response was automatic, a way of protecting himself. What he hadn't been expecting was her to flinch visibly. "Is that the problem? I know these things can be stressful…"

"It's not that," she interrupted, biting down on her bottom lip the way she did when she was nervous. "It's… I don't know think there's going to be a wedding to plan. Sir."

"Right." Jack swallowed, hard. He ran a hand through his hair and when he noticed her looking at him, he motioned to the chair in front of his desk. "You wanna sit down…?"

She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak, and sat down heavily. She clasped her hands on her lap, fingers tangled together.

"So," he said on an exhaled breath as he sat down opposite her. "Is this a case of cold feet…?"

"No." She was sure about that at least. Just as she was sure she was going to have to have a very awkward conversation with her soon-to-be-ex-fiancé, not to mention her brother who had set them up in the first place. "No, it's not cold feet. I shouldn't have said yes in the first place, and that's on me." The thought of hurting Pete made her eyes sting and she stared down at her hands. She'd never meant to; she did have feelings for him, just not the kind she needed in order to marry him. "I'll deal with it."

"I'm sure you will." He cleared his throat and leaned forward in his seat, trying to get closer to her without it being too obvious. He, too, was aware of the audience they had in those still lingering in the briefing room. "Can I ask… Are you sure this is what you want? Calling it off?"

"I'm sure." She glanced up at him, a small smile on her face. Despite the anxiety she felt at what she needed to do, she felt a little better, a little lighter, now that the decision had been made.

"So, what brought on this change of heart?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Not meaning to pry, or anything –"

"Cassie." She rolled her eyes at herself, and sat back in her seat. "She asked me a stupid question and I realised… The answer wasn't what it should've been if I was going to marry Pete."

"Ah," was all he said. It was all he needed to. The knowing way in which he said it and the small smile that played around her lips told her what she needed to.

She tilted her head and forced herself to hold his gaze instead of looking away. "I'm guessing that means she asked you, too?"

"Mmm hmm." The grin grew a little, amusement in his eyes. "She made me promise to tell her at the barbeque on Saturday." At her surprised expression, he shrugged a shoulder. "There's going to be a barbeque, by the way. Saturday, my place. Cass thought it was long overdue since we got the band back together and I agree."

"Sounds good, Sir." By Saturday, she'd have spoken to Pete. She'd be glad of the company and companionship only her team, current and former, could provide.

They sat in silence for a few moments more, until Sam once again became aware of the visitors in the briefing room apparently waiting to speak to him before they left. She stood, smiling when he automatically stood with her. "I should get back to my lab, and let you get back to your guests."

"Hmm." Something passed over his face, but cleared before she could make sense of it. "Don't forget to break for lunch, Carter."

"I won't, Sir," she said, knowing full well she probably would.

"Of course you won't." He rolled his eyes but there was still a small smile on his face as she opened the door leading into the hallway, not the briefing room, and left.

Looking up at the star map, Jack indicated for Walter to bring Major Davis and Agent Johnson into his office.

#

His conversation with Kerry after the official de-briefing with her and Major Davis had been surprisingly easy. It turned out she was far more observant than he'd given her credit for, and he hadn't had to say a lot to explain his change of heart.

With a bounce in his step, he made his way to Carter's lab, knowing full well that she hadn't left it despite it being late afternoon. He slowed his pace as he approached, hearing her voice, and paused at the doorway when he realised he could only hear one side of the conversation.

"I didn't want to do this over the phone, Pete. You're the one who insisted I tell you what I wanted to talk to you about." There was a pause, a sigh. "No, it wasn't – It's got nothing to do with anyone else." Another, longer, pause. "I'm sorry. I am. I never meant to – I know. I'm sorry. Pete – No. I'm not going to change my mind."

He started counting the 'I'm sorrys' and tried to tune out the rest of the conversation. After the fifth time, he heard her sigh again before he heard the definite click as the phone was hung up. He gave it another moment, giving her time to compose herself, before knocking on the doorframe and entering the lab.

To his relief, she was dry eyed and gave him a small smile when he entered. She didn't look upset, more guilty mingled with relief.

He slipped his hands into his pockets and stood casually beside her work bench. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Carter, but didn't I tell you to break for lunch at some point today?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And did you break for lunch…?" He quirked an eyebrow, lips twitching when she looked away.

"No, Sir."

"No, Sir," he repeated with mock disappointment. "Right. Up and at 'em, Carter. Let's go see what's left in the commissary."

Sam's gaze snapped back to his. "Sir?"

"Lunch, Carter. Food. Sustenance." He took his hands out of his pockets, shrugged his shoulders, and leaned in conspiratorially. "It may have escaped your notice, but humans need it."

"I –" The look on his face stopped her mid-protest. With an eye roll that wasn't entirely suitable for a subordinate to give her CO, Sam got up from the stool. She ignored his smirk, though felt her own lips twitch in response, and followed him to the door.

#

A late lunch later, Sam found herself reluctant to leave the commissary and Jack's company to return back to her lap. She nursed her cup of lukewarm coffee, her mac and cheese followed by blue jello having been consumed long before. She thought he maybe felt the same, if the way he was taking miniscule bites of his apple pie was anything to go by; she'd seem him polish off a slice twice as big in half the time before so either he was drawing it out or there was another reason for his lack of appetite.

Nerves, maybe, she thought in hindsight, when she remembered the conversation that had followed when she was home later.

"So, Cassie called you last night, too, huh?"

"She did. She's excited about coming home for the weekend."

"I got that impression when she begged for a barbeque."

A comfortable silence fell between them, each thinking about their young charge with open affection. The young girl – woman – would always hold a special place in both of their hearts.

"Have you thought about what you're going to tell her when she asks the question again?"

The question. The one that set into motion a chain of events neither anticipated when they'd answered the phone to the young woman.

"I'm hoping she'll have forgotten about it to be honest," Sam admitted, studying him over the rim of her coffee cup. "You?"

He shrugged and pushed the remaining pie around on the plate with his fork. "I think she already knows what my answer would be, Sam."

Sam, not Carter. It was ridiculous, she thought, how the simple act of this man calling her by her given name could set her pulse racing.

"Same. I think that's why she asked it."

Silence fell again, a silence made heavy with tension and words unsaid.

Sam looked up from her coffee to find him looking at her.

Their eyes held for a long moment, saying words that couldn't let be said out loud. Whatever he read on her face was clearly enough, his lips twitching again into a smirk as he broke eye contact to look at his place. He scooped up the last of the pie and chewed it slowly. When he was done, he returned his gaze to her face and quirked an eyebrow.

"Did Cass tell you the rule about not being allowed to waste time travelling?"

She returned his smile with one of her own. "She did."

"Then we need to put a plan in place."

"A plan, Sir?"

"Yup. Your place or mine, Carter. No point me heading to your place if you're heading to mine."

It was the nearest they'd get to confirming who'd they'd choose to spend the end of the world with, at least aloud. Still, Sam found herself glancing around to make sure that no one had entered the commissary without her noticing during their conversation.

After reassuring herself that they were almost alone, and certainly out of earshot of anyone else, she set her coffee cup down decisively and met his gaze again.

"Yours. Sir."

"Mine?" Momentarily shocked, Jack hadn't expected her to answer. He'd expected a blush, a shy smile, and then an excuse for her to flee back to her lab. To have an answer – to have confirmation that she felt the same way he did – flummoxed him.

Momentarily.

But it was long enough for her to make her exit, throwing him a smile over her shoulder.

A smile that had him hoping they wouldn't have to wait for the end of the world.

#

The sky'd be falling while I'd hold you tight  
No, there wouldn't be a reason why  
We would even have to say goodbye  
If the world was ending  
You'd come over, right?  
You'd come over, right?  
You'd come over, you'd come over, you'd come over, right?


End file.
